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The Unofficial Blogger of the Chicago Cubs in Canada

Cubs Ruffle St Louis’s Feathers

The best pitcher in the game got rocked yesterday by the Chicago Cubs. Adam Wainwright and the St Louis Cardinals took a beating 6-5.

In truth, the score should have been wider but this was the Cubs and they were playing the Cardinals. Anthony Rizzo blasted a home run and drove in two as he led the charge. The Cubs looked good and either the Cardinals took it easy or underestimated Chicago’s talent, and I can see just how easy that would be, or the Northsiders proved finally that they’ve got the talent to compete.

“He’s made a very conscious effort of trying to control the strike zone,” Rick Renteria said of Rizzo, who batted .233 last season. “With two strikes especially, he’s been really battling. He’s just trying to not do too much. He choked up and just tried to put the barrel on the ball — he’s a very strong man. If he puts the barrel on the ball with a decent swing, he can hit the ball out of the ballpark.”

I’ll tell you as well that once the great weather finally gets here and the Ivy turns to green, we’re going to see Anthony Rizzo put the barrel on the ball a whole lot more.

“It’s definitely going to create a buzz around our division and the league, knowing that the Cubs have those power arms,” said Rizzo, who started things off with a two-run homer in the first, then walked four times. “We’ve just got to score runs and let our pitching do the rest.”

The month of April had a lot of growing pains but like I said yesterday, if the Cubs can take this series, it’ll turn a corner for the team.

Naysayers will squawk and let them, but guys like Starlin Castro, who went 3-4 yesterday, love to play. Once they get into their rhythm, there’s no telling what kind of players these guys will be.

So, the Cubs have Emilio Bonifacio, Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro taking the lead but I have to say that Junior Lake is disappointing me. Either pitchers have caught on to what he’s all about or he just continues to swing at anything. He needs work and patience.